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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2016-08-18, Page 14PAGE 14.THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2016. Classified Advertisements Help wanted Help wanted Bachert Meats severance deferred Job opening for a Service Technician to install, service and repair farm equipment. Looking for a hardworking individual with a positive attitude. Must be available to work some week nights and weekends. A valid driver's licence is required. Good mechanical skills are essential. Equipment operation experience and welding is an asset. • Farm Systems Ltd. eith Siemon Please email resumes and references to ksfs@tcc.on.ca or fax 519-345-2300 Tenders Tenders FARM SALE BY TENDER VACANT LAND COMPRISED of Part Lot 15, Concession 9, West Wawanosh, Township of Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh, County of Huron, subject to a right of way (PIN 41085-0026 (LT) being approximately 93 acres, with approximately 63.9 acres workable (gps calculation), randomly tiled, no buildings. For Tender forms and other particulars contact: Frank A. Cameron Law Office 38 Ontario Street, Clinton ON NOM 1L0 Phone: 519-482-5510 Email: estella@fcameron.ca Tender to be submitted by 12 noon on August 26, 2016 Highest or any tender not necessarily accepted. el MUNICIPALITY OF MORRIS TURNBERRY tom a - REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL ONE NEW 1/2 TON CREW CAB PICKUP TRUCK CLOSING DATE: 10:OOa.m. - Thursday, August 25, 2016 TENDERS TO BE SUBMITTED TO: Municipality of Morris-Turnberry Jeff Molenhuis Director of Public Works P.O. Box 310 41342 Morris Rd. Brussels, ON NOG 1H0 For information regarding this Request for Proposal contact (519) 357-3550 extension 128 Services FAXING SERVICE We can send or receive faxes for you for only $1.00 per page. The Citizen, 413 Queen St., Blyth. Phone 519- 523-4792. Fax 519-523-9140. tfn .0% Please Recycle This Newspaper Vacation properties TWO-BEDROOM COTTAGE WITH bunkhouse at Point Clark, includes fully -equipped kitchen, gas barbecue, fire pit, horseshoe pit and much more, close to lighthouse and beach. To fmd out more or to book your holiday call 519-523-4799 or 519-440-7447 after 6:00 p.m. tfn BUY? SELL? TRY CLASSIFIED Huron East Council deferred a zoning bylaw amendment for a property that has proven controversial in the past in order to receive feedback from the neighbours before anything is finalized. The amendment would allow Derick Bachert, the applicant, to sever the abattoir, barn and house on the property in the future as they have future plans to build a new house on the balance of the farmland. With the Bacherts, Marvin and Wendy, attempting to bring their son Derick into the business, he bought a home in Brucefield, but was finding the drive to be too long. The suggestion was then that they build a new house on the property for Derick. Several adjacent landowners were in attendance at Huron East Council's Aug. 9 meeting to discuss the issue, which, if passed, would allow Bachert Meats to expand in the future. In the past, residents have spoken to council, as well as the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs with concerns about an unpleasant odour coming from the property. There have also been concerns regarding the application of washwater to the land on the property. At the meeting, Huron County Planner Claire Dodds said that there are a number of factors that must be met by Bachert Meats in regards to the Nutrient Management Act. She said that the placement of the storage tank in question meets minimum recommended distance requirements as set out by the act. Dodds says the business has been found to be in complete compliance with regulations. Some residents, however, such as Tom and Doris Williamson, persist in their complaints, saying that on some summer days, the family has had to go indoors because the air was "rancid" with the smell of "blood and water". While Marvin Bachert, Derick's father and the prime owner of the business, said that he didn't plan to expand, as Derick has become more involved in the business, he has thought that perhaps Bachert's should return to some custom butchering, which the business used to do. Since Bachert's stopped custom butchering for people, he said, they have received numerous calls asking them to return to the work. Derick wants to perhaps include a custom butchering room in the business's future plans, Marvin said. While neighbouring residents expressed disappointment at the potential for expansion, Marvin asked if expansion is a bad thing. He suggested that a local business expanding is likely a good thing for the community. Neighbours, however, said that while expansion would be good, it would need to be done the right way to ensure a good relationship with neighbouring properties. Residents also felt that if the business is so heavily governed by a nutrient management plan, the property should remain as one lot and not be severed. "We're not against these people making a living, we're fed up that the people in this community are not being respected," said Tom Williamson. "We are part of this community." Bachert said that since the issue of odour was last raised, he has implemented a thick straw top on the tank, which has made a difference to Graeme and Helen Craig, nearby neighbours to the property. He also said that agricultural odours are not limited to Bachert Meats in Walton. He said that if anyone were to open their window on the main street of Seaforth that night, they would "know [they] were in the country." He said he and his wife can smell pigs every night with pig farms around the property and it doesn't bother them. He also stated that Ministry of the Environment representatives have been to the property numerous times over the years and not once have they been able to confirm the presence of an odour. Mayor Bernie MacLellan said that after the lengthy debate at the meeting, there seemed to be sufficient reason to defer the decision so the landowners and neighbours could resolve their differences ahead of council making a decision. Council passed a motion to defer and the issue will be raised again at a future meeting. HE to begin strategic planning Continued from page 1 they are today," Knight said in his report. Knight suggested that council shouldn't completely close the door on shared services, but that decisions should be made on an individual basis if there are benefits to be had. "What I would suggest is that recent attention to shared services has failed to realize the current extent of shared services and agreements that are in place now with it being noted that some of these agreements have evolved since the 2001 amalgamations," Knight said. "I would suggest that municipalities will continue to adapt and evolve and will continually look at shared services, but the sharing of services has to be beneficial and cost-effective, but more importantly, doesn't need to be the sole focus of our municipal operations, which unfortunately over the last couple of months, it seems to have become." Both MacLellan and Marshall said they agreed with Knight that the Morris-Turnberry/North Huron model has been the focus when it probably shouldn't have been. Councillor Ray Chartrand agreed, saying much of what Morris- Turnberry and North Huron presented leaned too heavily on assumptions, rather than hard data. Chartrand went even further, saying that he felt that around the Huron East table, the concept of shared services had changed. His idea of sharing services, he said, was that if Huron East, for example, was a little short in terms of money on an item, the municipality would look to partner with a neighbouring municipality for that year to help keep costs down. The idea changed along the way, he said, to reducing staff and attempting to run four municipalities with one CAO. Councillor David Blaney also addressed MacLellan's claim that by being against the sharing of services, councillors are against the concept of saving money, a claim he called false, adding that he felt MacLellan was perhaps starting his election campaign a few years early. Blaney said that perhaps to begin a shared services discussion, Huron East should focus on one small area and see if savings can be found by sharing services, rather than sharing everything right off the bat in the absence of relevant data ensuring success and savings. By approaching shared services that way, Blaney said, the municipality would likely find it "digestible" and the municipality wouldn't have to pay between $50,000 and $70,000 for a consultant. Through that lens, he said, Huron East should begin to look for the potential for savings internally, rather than to its neighbours. "We have very competent people here. Let them do their job," Blaney said. MacLellan said he didn't feel that Huron East was going to find the large savings the municipality needs by partnering on a tender here or there for equipment or gravel. To find mass savings, he said, it is going to have to be a huge shift in thinking like a comprehensive shared services agreement. He also disagreed with beginning the review in-house, saying that an employee in house would prepare a review that shows their job is needed, so he felt the review would need to be independent. Both Blaney and Marshall suggested that the municipality is searching for a way to save money, that looking ahead to the future would be the best way to do it. That, in turn, would return to strategic planning, which the two councillors have been pushing for for years. With provincial funding expected to drop for at least the next three years, councillors agreed that efficiencies need to be found, but MacLellan said he wanted to ensure that council focused on improving the municipality's situation the right way. He referenced numerous documents he has received recently at conferences which offer new ways to collect from residents, but are "taxes". MacLellan said that doesn't solve the problem, because municipalities are still collecting money from the same people. The way forward, he said, is to find efficiencies and improve the way the municipality does its business. Council left the shared services discussion with staff to report back to council on next possible steps to savings. All word ads in The Citizen classifieds are put on our webpage at www.northhuron.on.ca